Cleared for contact after being sidelined for 2 ½ weeks with a strained hamstring, Michael Beasley participated in the Heat’s practice on Sunday.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra would like Beasley to play against the Hawks on Monday before flying to Los Angeles, but the team’s training staff will evaluate Beasley one final time before signing off on the small forward. Beasley last played on Dec.5 against the Bulls. He has missed seven consecutive games.
“You never know what the right plan is, but we all were on board with the plan that our training staff and medical staff had for Michael,” Spoelstra said. “He was anxious to come back over a week ago, but there are a series of tests and progressions to make sure his hamstring was getting stronger and healthy.”
If not treated properly, hamstring injuries can linger throughout an entire season and lead to other injuries. To avoid complications, the Heat’s training staff has been overly cautious with Beasley’s health.
“He has been going more full speed on the court, not full contact, the last five or six days and [Sunday] was his first full-contact practice and I was encouraged,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll have to see how he feels and responds [Monday].”
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